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First Read FinTech Exchange Chicago: Future Is Now For Some FinTech and Right Around The Corner For Other Technology Spencer Doar, JohnLothianNews.com FinTech Exchange 2016 Chicago was no wistful exercise in futurology last month. It was firmly set in the do-or-die present of technological solutions and opportunities. Chicago may not be thought of as a fintech hub among key global financial centers such as New York or London, but the homegrown talent was out in force along with a slew of imported presenters on the forefront of finding and pioneering new technology opportunities. The themes were well known — big…

First Read NFX Facts Doug Ashburn – JLN On a quarterly earnings call this morning, Nasdaq CEO Bob Greifeld offered up a status report on its fledgling energy platform NFX. He said that, nine months in, NFX has traded over 10 million contracts, with open interest of 800,000 as of last week. Not bad for a new entrant, given the amount to which the leaders – CME Group‘s NYMEX division and ICE – are entrenched. Of note, the top two market share leaders on NFX are Brent Crude and Low Sulphur Gasoil, two products in which ICE is the dominant…

First Read Bits & Pieces: Can Bill Herder Play Tennis In a Kilt? And much more: position limits and our next guest editors Jim Kharouf and Doug Ashburn, JLN THE KIDS With FIA Boca right around the corner it is time to get serious – this is about tennis and kilts. While tennis skirts have been around for some time, kilts have been around much, much, much longer (see Braveheart, where a Scotsman is played by an Australio-American). This year, the Futures For Kids kilt challenge has been taken up by Bill Herder, a wee man who may be the…

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First Read MF Global Advocate Koutoulas At Center Of Controversy Again By Mark Melin – Value Walk Until recently, the derivatives industry was most often ignored, overlooked and dismissed as too complex or arcane to warrant attention in the mainstream. For many who worked deep in the industry, this was just fine. They didn’t seek the limelight or public acclaim. But scandals such as the $1.6 billion disappearance of funds in the MF Global case and a stunning if oddball fraud and suicide attempt at Peregrine Financial Group (PFG) put the industry and its regulators into the limelight. Now that…

First Read Strength In Smaller Numbers Jim Kharouf – John Lothian News President & Editor-in-Chief Back in the mid- to late 1990s, I used to head up the most read edition of the year for Futures Magazine, called the Top 40 Brokers issue. We highlighted the Top 40 Futures Commission Merchants by assets held in customer accounts, also known as required segregated funds, along with other metrics reported to the CFTC With the number of FCMs whittled down to 54 today, the former Futures, now Modern Trader, just published a Top 30 article Top 30 Brokers: Mean, lean and ready…

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First Read 36 Years Later By John J. Lothian Yesterday the star quarterback during my early college years at Purdue visited my office. Mark Herrmann, now working for the University in a fundraising role, visited the offices of John J. Lothian & Company, Inc. to learn about my career and story. Herrmann, like me, is also a graduate of the Krannert School of Management at Purdue. Of course, his post collegiate career started in the National Football League, where he played quarterback for 12 years after being drafted by the Denver Broncos. Herrmann was dealt to the Indianapolis Colts in…

Comments Off on John Lothian Newsletter: Nasdaq to Acquire Chi-X Canada; Carbon Markets Are Making a Slow, But Steady, Comeback; Citadel makes third appeal to SEC over IEX application to become exchange

First Read 36 Years Later By John J. Lothian Yesterday the star quarterback during my early college years at Purdue visited my office. Mark Herrmann, now working for the University in a fundraising role, visited the offices of John J. Lothian & Company, Inc. to learn about my career and story. Herrmann, like me, is also a graduate of the Krannert School of Management at Purdue. Of course, his post collegiate career started in the National Football League, where he played quarterback for 12 years after being drafted by the Denver Broncos. Herrmann was dealt to the Indianapolis Colts in…

First Read All Smalls and Mediums: Richard Sandor Looks To Transform The Small and Mid-Tier Bank Sector (Part 2) JohnLothianNews.com Over the past 40 years, Richard Sandor has created some of the most successful products in financial markets, from interest rate futures to greenhouse gas derivatives. Now he’s shifted his attention to small and mid-sized banks with a new exchange platform that could transform the way in which those Main Street institutions lend, borrow and set interest rates for themselves. Sandor spoke with John Lothian News about his new venture, the American Financial Exchange, and the future for his latest…

First Read Rockin Out for Kids A Leg To Stand On (ALTSO) held its pre-Chicago Rocktoberfest event last night at Subterranean to raise money for kids who need prosthetic limbs or surgeries in developing countries. Ray McKenzie and Jen Justice rocked out a great cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “Badlands.” McKenzie’s band and several other notable industry pros will be playing at ALTSO’s big events in New York and Chicago next month. ALTSO’s 12th Annual Hedge Fund Rocktoberfest will be held in New York at Capital on October 15 and Rocktoberfest in Chicago will be held on October 22. Tickets for…